Topic: Assessment of the potential impact of Total Quality Management in the

Engineering Services Organization in Oman.

Introduction
Because of the tremendous competition between the service organizations in
the markets, it has become very important that each organization improve its
performance and the development of services it provides. The performance of
organizations is judged by the satisfaction of its customers, its profit
achievement and how it minimizes its losses.
Improving the quality of services provided by an organization is a key factor for
customer satisfaction (Oakland, 1995). Reflecting this principle the concept of
Total Quality Management (TQM) has been developed.
Over the last few years, the level of awareness of TQM has increased. There is
agreement that the effectiveness of managing an organization is improved
through TQM (Zhang, 1997).
TQM represents the integration of all functions and processes that are
operated by an organization, to improve the quality of its goods and services
(Ross, 1999).
Oakland (1995) described TQM as a comprehensive approach that involves
changing and organizing the whole organization; every department, every
person at every level and every activity.
This research will address the impact of the application of the principle of TQM
in Engineering Services Organization. This organization provides all support
and maintenance services to all camps in Ministry of Defence in the Sultanate
of Oman. The basis of research will consider Engineering Services Organization
like any organization that produces services and consists of management and
employees, and dealing with different customers.
The rest of this proposal will be organized as follows: background on the
organization of engineering services; the research question with its objectives;
literature review; research methodology; research limitations; and plan of the
research.

Background of an Engineering Services Organization

The Engineering Services Organization of the Ministry of Defence in the
Sultanate of Oman is a service-provider for all the military camps belonging to
the Ministry. It consists of seven main divisions: senior management
(leadership); planning directorate; human resources department; support
services directorate; and three maintenance sectors (north, middle and south)
(See Fig 1). The most important services provided by Engineering Services

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 Organization (ESO) are the generation of electricity, the operating of water
desalination plants, and the operating of sewage treatment plants. In addition,
ESO provides maintenance services (civil, electrical and mechanical) for all sites
that belong to the Ministry.
However, there is a problem – the ESO faces some criticism about the quality
of services it provides to its customers – including the lack training and
experience of its staff - making it important that TQM be introduced. I have
reached this view after working in this organization for ten years, in the
maintenance field.

This research will study frameworks and models, applicable to TQM, in order
to construct an appropriate framework for the ESO.

Fig 1: Organizational structure of the Engineering Services Organization.

ÔãÊãä
Senior Management

(Leadership)
Human Resources

Management Department Planning Directorate

Support Services Maintenance Directorate Maintenance Directorate Maintenance Directorate

Directorate North Sector Middle Sector South Sector

Source: adapted from main organizational structure of ESO.

Dissertation questions

1- Assess the potential impact of TQM in the Engineering Services

Organization of the Ministry of Defense in Oman.
2- Determine the appropriate framework for implementation of TQM in
the Engineering Services Organization

Dissertation objectives

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  To explain in depth the principles of total quality management.
 To promote, mobilise and manage TQM activities in the organization.
 To plan and improve education and training and develop a
recognition system of TQM.
 To generate and promote employees participation in TQM.
 To plan and implement a strategy for quality cost measurements.
 To formulate a TQM implementation framework for the Engineering
Services Organization.

The Purpose: to provide the staff in the Engineering Services Organization with
the knowledge and technique to drive and manage the TQM process.

Literature review

Historical development of TQM

First thinking about quality was in USA in 1920s when Taylor tried to develop
the quality of manufactured goods. From the 1930s, the next phase was
introduced in US industry as a statistical process control. Then during World
War II, the USA military added standards to quality thinking (Garvin 1988).
In the 1950s research and empirical studies were conducted, with the aim of
improving quality. The goal was to meet customer requirements, eliminating
the statistical inspections, and to involve all employees in the responsibility for
the quality process (Juran, 1988).
In 1980s, the principle of TQM was introduced by W. Edward Deming, and it
was adopted by the Japanese, who used it to improve the quality of their
products and production processes. At the same time US companies were
rejecting the TQM approach! (Deming, 1986). Hewlett-Packard was the first US
company to introduce TQM in 1990. A survey, reported in Electronic Business
in 1992, showed that 91 per cent of 70 companies, which applied TQM,
achieved quality improvement (Talha, 2004).

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Principles of Total Quality Management
The main objective for any organization is to make a financial surplus, or to
make savings in the case of governmental organizations. To achieve these
objectives, the organization has to fulfill three main criteria: to satisfy the
customer, to control costs, and to plan for improvement and growth (Gatiss,
1996). Services can be described is good quality, if they achieve what is desired
of them and result in customer satisfaction.
In the case of a services organization, and with respect to TQM, quality can be
defined as conformance to agreed requirements without incurring waste and
unnecessary correction- in short, to be fit for purpose. Totality in TQM is
defined as total participation by all levels and all departments in the
organization. Management is defined as the ability to motivate and drive the
entire organization towards the common vision, goal and direction (Wu, 2007).

Models and frameworks for Total Quality Management

After introducing TQM in USA after 1980, attempts were made quality gurus
to establish frameworks that help organizations to implement TQM (Oakland,
2003).
Deming constructed a framework consisting of 14 points, which became
guideline for quality improvement. In Deming’s view quality is a management
responsibility – and managers should draw up the strategies and policies
necessary to provide a suitable working environment (Deming, 1986).

Crosby also offered 14 steps to quality Improvement. His approach

concentrated on prevention, which aimed to produce zero defects. He said
education and training were important tools for the elimination the faults
(Crosby, 1984).

Another framework was constructed by Juran, which consisted of ten steps. He

emphasized customer-satisfaction and that the design of the product should
be fit for use (Oakland, 2003).

The key quality models are summarized below:

 TQM Model - major features

This model was promoted in the UK through the activities of the department of
Trade and Industry’s Quality Campaign and the Managing into the 90s
program. This model considered the major quality components to be: quality
circles (teams); problem solving methods (tools); and quality systems, such as
ISO 9000. The success of this model is dependent on three main factors;
organization culture; good communication; and the commitment of everyone

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in organization. The core of this model is the customer/supplier process, which
is the quality chain (Oakland, 2003).

 MBNQA model

Malcolm Baldrige developed the National Quality Award model, in US in the

late 1980s. This model aimed to improve organizational performance practice
and capabilities and results, and to facilitate communication and sharing of
best information. It served as a work tool for managing performance (Oakland,
2003).

 EFQM Excellence Model

The European Foundation Quality Management Model aims to help the

organization to deliver continuous improvement. In Europe, it is considered as
a self-assessment process, used by organizations to monitor and improve their
performance. The framework consists of two main parts: enablers and results.
Enablers include leadership, people, policy & strategy, resources, and process.
Those five criteria are considered to be inputs to the organization. The output,
resulting from these inputs, includes people satisfaction, customer satisfaction,
impact on society and key performance (Oakland, 2003).

Critical Factors of TQM

There are many critical factors for the successful implementation of TQM,
outlined in the varied literature on the subject. See, for example, Zhan (1997);
Oakland, (1995); Al Nofal, et al (2005); and Kanji and Asher (1993). Some of
these factors will be elaborated in this proposal.

 Leadership
The main role of senior management leadership is to create the goals, values
and systems that lead to continuous performance in the organization. Gurus of
quality, such as Deming, Juran, and Crosby, recognized the significant function
of top management and its responsibility to pursue quality improvement.
Senior management should establish a quality policy and make sure that the
quality management system is effective. Lack of management commitment is
one of the main reasons for the failure of TQM implementation (Brown et al.,
1994).

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  Focus on Customer
As mentioned above, quality can be defined as the meeting of customer needs.
The organization must know who the immediate customers are; what their
specific needs are; how the ability to meet these needs is measured; and how
the organization can monitor changes in requirements. The same questions
should be asked with regard to the supplier of the organization. Most studies
link the success of TQM to customer satisfaction. The relationship between the
supplier and the customer is known as the quality chain. This chain may be
broken by any person or by any process that does not meet the requirements
of the customer (Oakland, 2003). Important factors to be considered, with
regard to customer satisfaction, are: controlling the costs; expanding sales;
improving production and services: and delivering on time (Wu, 2007). Peker
(2009) said that the external customer is served by the internal customer
(employee).

 Employee involvement and empowerment

Juran and Gryna (1993) identified many benefits of employee participation. For
example, it increases the personal capabilities of staff and improves their
understanding of the difficulties faced by management and supervisors. It
leads to a change in the negative attitudes of some staff and increases their
self-respect. Participation also helps to reduce conflict, resulting from the
work environment, and instills in staff an understanding of the importance of
quality management. In addition, it contributes to establishing a company-
wide quality culture.

 Training and education

Kanji and Asher (1993) considered education and training one of the key
elements of TQM. The results of previous studies revealed that education and
training are important elements for the successful implementation of TQM.

The objectives of education and training in this approach are: to provide the
employees in the organization with a common understanding of quality
principles and concepts; to provide them with an understanding of his/her role
in quality improvement; and to provide specific skills, in relation to quality
improvement, in all areas of the organization. These skills include process
control and problem solving methods (Juran and Gryna, 1993).

Barriers to TQM
6
There is an elaborate about the advantages of TQM in many different sectors,
but there is little attention given to the challenges and difficulties in
implementation of this approach. Newall and Dale (1990) said organizations
face many barriers quality improvement, including poor planning; lack of
management commitment; resistance of the workforce; lack of proper
training; teamwork complacency; failure to change organizational philosophy;
lack of resources; and lack of effective measurement of quality improvement.
The organization must be committed to improvement and plan
implementation at any step. It must adopt a program of training and provide
continuous feedback to employees. In addition to opening channels of
communication and enabling team members to establish concrete goals, TQM
strategy should be developed to address long-term objectives.
Methodology of research
Since the research is concerned with the assessment of the impact of TQM in a
service organization, qualitative methodologies will be used to analyse
secondary data. However this does not preclude the use of quantitative
approaches if necessary.
Qualitative research refers to the meanings, concepts, characteristics,
metaphors and description of the data. The purpose of using qualitative data is
to get deeper understanding of the problem studied – and often focuses on
collecting and analysing data that cannot be expressed in numbers. In
contrast, quantitative research refers to measurements of data, and is used
when the data can be valued numerically. The purpose of this approach is to
verify existing theories or test hypotheses (Berg, 2007).
Methods of data collection
There are two types of methods for research data collection, primary and
secondary. The primary method refers to the collection of the data by the
researcher him/herself using methods like interviews and questionnaires.
Secondary analysis refers to the process of analysing existing data, which was
collected by previous researchers (Bell, 2005). Secondary data collection has
many advantages, for example, it saves time and costs; provides the
opportunity for longitude analysis; provides the opportunity for cross-cultural
analysis; and it provides wider obligations of the social researcher. On the
other hand, there are disadvantages like lacks of formality with data; there is
no control over data quality; and in addition to complexity of collected data
(Bryman, 2008).
Due to the difficulties in collecting primary data, for example, issues of access
and resources (including time), the use of secondary data, derived from
literature and previous studies, will be the method used in this research.

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Limitations
Unfortunately data from the Organization of Engineering Services cannot be
collected because of the restriction access nature of the data of this
organization. Therefore, this research will draw on secondary data in literature
and previous studies. This organization will be considered as a public
organization that provides services to customers. The study will not examine
the engineering and technical aspects of the organization. The focus of this
research is to consider how Engineering Services Organization might adopt
TQM.
Dissertation plan
The following table shows the proposed work plan; with the anticipated time
for completion the chapters of the research.
Table 1: Proposed dissertation outline
Chapter Introduction Expected Timeline
1
1.1 Introduction 1/6 to 10/6
1.2 Background about Engineering Services Organization
1.3 Research question and objectives
1.4 Methodology and data collection method
1.5 Limitation of research

Chapter Total Quality Management Review

2
2.1 Definition of TQM 12/6 to 25/6
2.2 Historical development of quality
2.3 TQM principle
2.4 Service quality
2.5 Benefits of TQM
2.6 Barriers of TQM
2.7 Quality gurus approaches
Chapter Improving quality through process
3
3.1 Quality system and process 27/6 to 15/7
3.2 TQM Deming Cycle
3.3 TQM tools
3.4 TQM from engineering approach
3.5 TQM and Total Preventive Maintenance
3.6 Quality cost
Chapter Improving quality through people
4
4.1 The role of management 17/7 to 30/7
4.2 Employees participation and empowerment
4.3 Change of culture
4.4 Education and training
4.5 Communication
4.6 Team work

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Chapter Total Quality Models
5
5.1 TQM model Major-Feature 2/8 to 12/8
5.2 MBNQA model
5.3 EFQM model
5.4 Comparison between models
Chapter Discussion and Conclusion
6
6.1 Success and failure of TQM (case studies) 15/8 to 30/8
6.2 The appropriate Model for Engineering Service
Organization.
6.3 Conclusion and recommendation

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